Crystal Massacre
by BiscuitBites
Summary: When Spike and Rarity meet up with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor one night, they have no idea what they have coming to them. With strange occurances happening in the Crystal Empire and no guards to protect them, the ponies (and dragon) must do what they can to protect each other.
1. Part 1

Spike and Rarity approached the castle with immense joy. It had been a while since their last visit; they hadn't been to the Crystal Empire since they got married last Winter. It had changed quite a bit since then; the paths were shinier, the ponies seemed happier and the weather was beautiful.

They had barely even stepped hoof into the castle before Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were running to greet them, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Cadance! Shining Armor!" Rarity yelled enthusiastically, absolutely gleaming with joy. She and Cadance hadn't seen each other in so long and were almost overwhelmed to be seeing each other once again.

She and Cadance had gotten along so well recently, being the only married mares in the group. They often met up in Canterlot, complaining about their partners' habits, drinking tea and exchanging stories about how they'd saved Equestria, the few dozens of times they had. It was how they bonded.

"Rarity! Spike!" Cadance was just as happy to see Rarity. When they got to each other, they embraced one another in a tight hug while Spike and Shining Armor awkwardly hoof-bumped. They were fairly close too, often finding themselves watching sport and drinking cider together when the girls wanted to hang out but they were nowhere near as close as Cadance and Rarity were and they would never do something as painfully humiliating as hugging.

They moved to the main living room, Cadance and Rarity already bouncing around and gossiping about the ponies in Equestria, and Spike and Shining Armor exchanging a few words every now and again about the weather.

After some catching up between the four of them, they decided it was time for lunch. They sat at the downstairs kitchen table while crystal servants prepared daffodil and daisy sandwiches for the ponies and pink sapphire gems for Spike.

"We've never told you that?" Rarity asked. "I'm surprised. I thought I'd told everyone about that story."

"Trust me, I'm sure I'd remember you telling me about Spike burping on his burrito and accidentally sending it to Princess Celestia," Cadance said with a giggle. The whole table was soon crying with laughter; all except Spike who was frowning at everypony involved.

"I'd like to see how well _you_ could send and receive packages through your mouth!" the small dragon whined.

Once the laughter had died down, Shining Armor started talking about his week. "There was this pony that was threatening all the guards, he looked insane. We tried apprehending him, some of the stuff he was saying was unheard of, but he teleported away before we could even take one step towards him. We couldn't track him either because he was wearing this black cloak, covered his cutie mark perfectly. I really fear for the ponies of the Crystal Empire."

Rarity and Spike seemed somewhat quiet and outright shocked. "Don't worry," Cadance said in reassurance. "You'll be safe. The castle is crawling with guards, and there's no way we'd let anything happen to you." The pink princess smiled at the couple a smile that could brighten up even the darkest of days. It was like a hex was being cast on them, making them forget their worries. Spike and Rarity soon found themselves smiling too and everypony continued to eat their meal in silence.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about how things have been on the different sides of Equestria, telling stories and gossiping until Luna raised the moon, and everypony was starting to feel tired.

Cadance and Shining Armor showed Rarity and Spike to their room, where their bags had already beaten them there. Rarity and Cadance embraced in another tight hug before promptly separating.

"Goodnight, Rarity," she said sweetly. "Goodnight Spike." She winked at him before leaving the room.

Everypony else said their goodbyes before Shining Armor headed off to his own room.

"What a day," Spike said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

"Yes, it was marvellous. And dinner was simply divine. I love the exquisite cuisine that comes with the Crystal Empire. Almost as much as I love the Empire itself."

"I have to admit, the gems are always perfectly ripe." Spike was drooling in delight.

"I don't understand how you can eat such precious jewels," Rarity said in astonishment.

"Me neither."

"Oh, I'm exhausted!" Rarity complained. "I feel like I'm going to pass out if I have to stay awake any longer. We should get some sleep."

"Yeah," Spike said, climbing into bed with her. "Goodnight, Rare. I love you."

"I love you too, Spikey-Wikey."

It wasn't long until Spike awoke from a terrible nightmare. He forgot it rather quickly. It was something along the lines of losing Rarity to another stallion. Spike was fuming in annoyance.

Because he was small, and Rarity was so beautiful, he had a lot of self-doubt about himself and how Rarity could get any stallion she wanted. When she walked into a room she'd turn just about every head in her direction, ponies would drool over her. Nopony ever drooled over Spike, they hardly even knew he existed, and when he was out with Rarity, he might as well have just been invisible. Spike grimaced and turned to look at Rarity but—

She wasn't there.


	2. Part 2

Rarity never woke up in the middle of the night. Spike was confused but decided to wait a bit, in case she came back. There was no point making a fuss over one tiny detail. But five minutes passed, then fifteen, then thirty. Panic started to set in so Spike decided to get up and try to find her. He assured himself that everything was fine, maybe she got lost on the way back from the bathroom, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Spike left the room in search of his love. "Rarity!" Spike called. "Rarity!"

He was suddenly pushed up against the wall, a hoof over his mouth. He was worried for a moment until he saw Cadance's face. "Sh!" she hissed. "Do you want to wake up the whole castle?" Spike shook his head and Cadance removed her hoof. "Sorry, Spike. What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Rarity's missing," the small dragon explained, "I can't find her anywhere."

Cadance's face was blank for a moment, thinking rapidly, as if debating something. "Shining Armor's missing too."

Suddenly, Spike was terrified. Not only was Rarity missing, but Shining Armor was now missing too. He stayed rational. They both probably couldn't sleep and were just having a snack together, maybe some tea. Spike had woken up in the middle of the night a few times to find Rarity hunched over her sewing machine with a glass of tea, stressing out about getting her designs done in time. Maybe Rarity was just stressed about something that was all.

"Have you checked the kitchen? Maybe they're just having some tea?"

Cadance thought for a moment. "Yeah. Maybe. We'll have to be quiet though."

The two of them snuck through the long, seemingly endless halls to the kitchen but nopony was in sight. Even the guards were nowhere to be seen. Spike was getting sceptical. "Are the guards usually this stealthy?"

Cadance shook her head. "No. Shining Armor gave them the night off. They've been working so hard recently with the threats that the Crystal Empire have been receiving this week."

"That's nice of him," Spike commented. "Where else can we look for Rarity and Shining Armor?"

"They could be anywhere. We'll have to search the whole castle."

"What if they aren't even together?" the purple dragon asked.

"Trust me," Cadance said, irritation clear in her tone. "They're together."

Spike was confused by the sudden change in Cadance's tone. What had she meant by that? "What do you mean―"

"Maybe they're in the library!" the alicorn chipped in, cutting Spike off. He quickly forgot about his previous thought and nodded his head, hopeful.

As they headed to the library, a rather disturbing silence fell over them. Spike didn't know what to say, he was so worried that something awful had happened to Rarity that he could hardly bring himself to speak and he'd assumed the same was happening for Cadance. I mean, they had a baby together! He and Rarity had only gotten married a mere year and a half ago and weren't even considering children together, and not only could Cadance not find her husband but also her best friend, who she'd cared about more than princess-hood. This must have been terrible for her.

It wasn't long before they entered the library, which was so dark, they could barely see their own hooves in front of their faces. Their only source of light was the moonlight shining in through the beautiful stained glass sunroof, barely lighting up the perfectly hoof-stitched tapestries. It was a marvellous sight to see, which, unfortunately, Spike could not.

"Rarity?" he called as quietly as he could, while still being loud enough for somepony to hear. There was no response and Spike's hope started to fade. Cadance didn't seem at all surprised that they weren't there but Spike wasn't concerned about it. Shining Armor wasn't one to read, he preferred action instead of sitting around and concentrating on somepony else's life.

Slightly disappointed, the two of them proceeded to search the castle for their partners, checking every room and every nook and cranny. After several minutes of wandering around the castle, they went down to the kitchen and sat down at the table with a glass of crystal water each.

A long silence wove over them as they took a moment to relax and clear their heads. It had been a stressful few hours, not to mention they'd each only gotten a blink of sleep before waking up in the middle of the night. They looked like trash, dark circles under their eyes and slumped over in their chairs like the walking dead. It was obvious they were both tired and wanted nothing more than to lay down in bed with their loved ones and call it a night, but with Shining Armor and Rarity still missing, it was going to be a while before they could get back to sleep.

The small dragon groaned, his frustration finally getting the better of him. "They're nowhere!"

"I don't understand where they could have gone," the pink pony questioned. "Maybe they went back to their rooms?"

Spike was delighted to hear such an idea. "Of course! That makes perfect sense! We've been searching for so long that they've probably already gone back to the rooms." They quickly finished their glasses then raced off to find Shining Armor and Rarity.

The two of them travelled back to Spike's room first. "I'll go check my room, you check here," Cadance suggested.

Spike nodded along and entered the room. "Rarity?" he called. No response. "Rarity?" He checked the bed; she wasn't there. He checked the closet; she wasn't there. He checked the bathroom; but she wasn't there. Clearly, she hadn't come back. Spike sighed. His paranoia had developed significantly since when he had first woken up. He was unsure of what he needed to do next. Rarity was gone and he didn't know at what point he was supposed to start taking it _very_ seriously. Rarity could be in serious danger, but on the other hand, she may just be somewhere in the castle, possibly looking for him and wondering where he went after she got back from wherever. Just as well.

Spike took a moment to breathe, relaxing. She was okay, surely. How often is Rarity in _serious_ danger? He thought back to the time she was foalnapped by the diamond dogs, how traumatising that was for him to helplessly watch and how even more traumatising that must have been for her. But she dealt with it just fine. She was okay. She's strong. She can get herself out of almost any mess. But that word kept bugging him.

 _Almost._

He thought about how much worse this must be for Cadance. Sure, there were times he or Rarity had been in serious situations like this but it always worked out. Spike can't even begin to imagine how hard it was for Cadance to have been trapped in the crystal caves for nearly two weeks, alone. How terrified Shining Armor must have been when he found out what happened and how much worse it would have been the second time when he failed to protect her again. Spike couldn't let anything like that happen to Rarity. She had his heart and if something happened to her, his heart would die with her.

Spike got up, tired of being alone and went out to look for Cadance. He went to her room but she wasn't there. _That's odd,_ he thought. He hadn't seen her on the way to her room so she must have gone somewhere else.

As he was leaving the room, something caught his eye. The closet was open slightly. There was a little bit of hair sticking out of it. It was blue. Almost like…no.

He got closer, opened the door and screamed. There Shining Armor was, lying on the ground, a knife buried deep in his chest, blood exuding from the wound. But that wasn't the horrifying part.

Next to him lied Rarity, eyes open, glassy and staring off into the distance with a wooden stake protruding from her head. Blood was dripping down her face and she had a bruise across her jawline. He quickly grabbed her hoof in his claw but it was ice cold.

She was dead.


	3. Part 3

Spike didn't know what to do. He was too shocked to scream, to bawl, to call someone for help. He'd even forgotten how to breathe properly. He was like a statue until the door slammed closed. He came back down to Earth and knew he was in the same room as the killer.

He knew that if he turned around it would be real, it would be happening so he remained frozen in the middle of the room. He would finally meet this pony. The stallion in the black cloak, threatening the Crystal Empire. They killed his love and his whole life. He was prepared to die to avenge Rarity. And he would do just that.

He took a letter opener from the desk beside the closet and swiftly turned around, prepared for a battle with somepony who was definitely much stronger than he was. The silhouette was standing in front of the door in the darkness, watching him. Spike gulped, scared. This was it. This was the end for him.

The pony started to slowly walk towards him. They were tall, taller than the average pony. Each step was like the sound of metal clipping against the crystal floor. Just then did he start to notice a large horn, long wings and a long, curly mane.

They stepped into the light shining in through the windows.

Cadance.

Cadance was the one responsible for Rarity's death, Cadance was the one who killed Shining Armor and Cadance was the one who would now kill Spike.

Spike looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Why did you do it?"

She smiled at him a smile that could melt the sun on a hot day. "You know nothing about what your wife has been up to." She walked around to the window and looked out, as if waiting for something. "They deserved everything they got."

"They _deserved_ to die? Have you lost your mind?" Spike was fuming. She had the guts to talk so poorly of such an innocent pony and her own husband.

"I don't know how to tell you this, Spike." She looked at him, serious. "They were pigs! Unfaithful, disrespectful pigs! I've been planning this day for a very long time. The day I could get my revenge! I could get them back for all the trouble they've caused me! For all the trouble they've caused _us_! She didn't love you, Spike. If she did, she wouldn't have cheated on you."

Spike was taken aback. He hadn't a clue what to believe. Rarity would never do something so low. She loved him. "You're lying!"

"Oh, come on, Spike! She may be the element of generosity but haven't you noticed she can be a little too generous at times? I know that deep down, you've always been afraid she would choose somepony else."

That was the worst part. She was right. Spike always thought she'd change her mind. He was angry, or so he thought he was, his emotions were everywhere at that moment, and he was very confused. But no matter what, she didn't deserve to die! She was a good pony who made a mistake. And whether that mistake was cheating on Spike or marrying him in the first place, didn't matter.

Spike wanted to scream, to yell at Cadance, to call for help. But when he opened his mouth, that's not what came out. "Why were you threatening the Crystal Empire if you only wanted to hurt Shining Armor and…" he choked up. "…Rarity?"

She looked at him and laughed. "Haven't you ever heard of a red herring before?" she said.

"Why did you do this? Why did you _kill_ them? That's the father of your child for pony's sake!"

Her eyes turned dark. "That cave messed me up, Spike. Nopony seems to understand that. I was starving, I was cold, my own fiancé almost married another pony because she _looked_ like me! And nopony seemed to know I was even gone. Not my fiancé, not my aunt, _nopony!_ Just like nopony will notice when they're gone."

Silence broke as Spike tried to figure out his next move. She was clearly unstable. He still had the weapon in his claw. He was going to use it.

He ran at Cadance, the weapon hidden behind his back. Just as he was about to pull it out, Cadance's horn lit up and Spike found himself falling, falling, falling, a sharp pain in his chest. He didn't bother to look at where the pain was coming from, he liked to believe it was his heart shattering for letting Rarity die. He would soon join her.

Cadance leaned over him with a scowl. "This story's had enough heroes." And with that, Spike fell into a _very_ deep sleep.


End file.
